Yesterday I posted an article about declawing on my facebook page, which seemed to stir up quite some emotions in people, so let's discuss.

One common mistake I hear a lot is that people think that declawing is simply taking out the cat's nails. It is not, it is full on amputation of an entire joint of the cat's claws, so you can compare it to amputating the first joint of each of your fingers or toes.

It alters the way a cat walks, like it would with you if you'd have the first joints of your toes amputated. They have to relearn how to walk in a very unnatural and often painful way.

In this country it is acceptable animal cruelty for human convenience. This practice is banned in many countries for good reason.

Did you know that 95% of declawed cats in rescues and shelters are there because of the problems they developed because of declawing?

It can have serious consequences:

Back issues, because the cat can no longer walk the way it naturally does, it walks on stumps now and the body tries to adjust and it often results in other physical problems.

Litter box issues, because digging in clay litter hurts. They normally use their claws for that. They no longer have those so to prevent having to do painful digging they simply go outside the box.

Arthritis, because they now walk on stumps instead of on their claws, so it not only can cause severe arthritis on their paws over time which makes walking extremely painful, but also in the rest of their body.

ALTERNATIVES TO DECLAWING:

Don't get a cat. It's as simple as that. To mutilate a cat's body for your convenience is animal cruelty. I have no other words for it.

Soft Paws. These are little plastic caps you can glue over your cat's nails that prevent their scratching from doing any damage.

Scratching opportunities. Make sure your cat has horizontal and vertical scratching opportunities and TEACH them to use it. They should have a scratching pole high enough for them to stretch their bodies on when using it. I have many of those in my house. You can buy a special sissal rug like I have in my living room that they can use for scratching.

Training: Train your cat where it can and cannot scratch. Teach them how to use the scratchers in your house through the use of a teaser or laser toy. Be firm with them when they scratch where they are not supposed to.

Furniture protection. You can buy couch corner scratchers that you can attach or place around the corners of your couch where cats seem to like to scratch the most. You can also put double sided sticky tape or aluminum foil on the corners of your couch to prevent the cats from using it as a scratching pole.

And last but not least, clip your cat's nails on a regular basis so they are blunt. I clip my cat's nails every single week, which helps a lot to prevent damage from being done to furniture.

Now that can be a myriad of things really... but this one really had me cuss today.

Someone wants a kitten. You spend time sending pictures, talking to them over the phone and answering all the questions they have, which is what any breeder should do. They commit to getting a kitten and tell me the check is going in the mail that day.

Great... This was my last boy I had available. In the last few days I turned away several people who wanted a boy, because this person was going to get the last one that they committed to two days ago.

Just now, I get a text message that they are not getting him because "the timing is not right".

REALLY???

Could you not think of that before you wasted all my time? You think I have nothing else to do but to talk with people about my cats? I have a job, I have a family. When I call you on the weekend that takes away precious time from my husband who I rarely get to spend time with, to begin with. You think my time is not as important as yours?

It frustrates me to no end when people don't think things through before they inquire and commit. I understand things happen. I understand you can get gung-ho about a kitten and then realize it may not be the right time (as happened with a repeat kitten buyer a few days ago which is totally fine), but if I have answered all your questions and spent a good amount of time on the phone with you and you reserved the kitten (after you took 24 hours to think about it), committed to sending a deposit and then 2 days later text me "it is not the right time" which resulted in me losing several potential kitten buyers?

Well... they just don't have the right emoji for that!

THIS is the reason I always tell people I don't hold kittens unless I have a deposit in my hands. THINK before you commit! So frustrating!

We are having a discussion over in the siberian pet owners group with a pet owner that is really nervous because her cat stopped eating canned food and she tried every food in the book and her cat won't eat.

I love you, I really do, you know why? Because you're genuinely concerned about your cat and are doing whatever it takes to take care of your kitty. Those are the kind of pet owners we breeders dream of.

Now that you know that; stop flipping out :)

If you cat suddenly stops eating canned food, but still eat dry food, the first thing you do is watch their behavior closely. Are they lethargic, do they play less, sleep less, drink more, hurt when using the litter box, or any other sign in their normal behavior. If you see any changes, take them to the vet. If you don't see any changes but you are still concerned, go to the vet as well.

If your cat gets a clean bill of health, stop flipping out and being a nervous wreck about it. Do not, and I repeat, do not waste your money buying 50 kinds of foods and sprinkles and what not to get your cat to eat, because your cat is turning into a spoiled brat and you are turning into it's nervous servant.

Cats don't starve themselves to death. They are hunters by nature. If they stop eating canned then stop feeding it for a month or so and then offer it again, wanna bet your cat will happily eat it then?

I know you all love your babies, and we, as breeders, love you for it. However one mistake people make is that they are humanizing their cats. They think their cats think the way we do. They don't. Cats don't think, they act and react on instinct. Their brains doesn't work like ours and their behavior is not like hours but you can certainly turn a cat into a spoiled brat that won't eat unless you feed them with a silver spoon simply because they get used to it and come to expect it.

Your cat is fine, take the canned away for a few weeks and then offer it again. Don't switch brands because that is only going to upset their stomach.When I was a kid, and there were Brussel sprouts on the table, I'd cry and whine, and my daddy used to look at me and say "either you eat your sprouts or you go to bed hungry, your choice". I learned to eat my sprouts really quickly.

I get this question a lot but an email I received this morning is triggering the need for a new story for my soap box collection.

This morning I received an email, and I quote:" Why the hell are you overcharging for your kittens? I know breeders that will sell them for less then $500. What makes you think your kittens are so superior to theirs? Your price is ridiculous, you must not be selling a lot of kittens."

Hahaha haha ha..........ok.

To start with your last remark, I have more requests then kittens, as soon as i make them available they are pretty much sold. So even at my "ridiculous" price, I have no problems finding homes for my little fuzzy butts.

Why the hell am I overcharging for my kittens? Well that depends on what you consider over charging. We take care of these little ones for 12 weeks until they go to their new homes. That means 12 weeks of TLC, food, vaccinations, deworming, vet check ups and spays and neuters before they leave. None of that is free.

Then we test all the parents for diseases such as PKD, PK-def and annual screening for HCM. None of that is free either.

Then we invest thousands upon thousands of dollars importing kittens and cats for our breeding program to ensure you get a kitten with the best type, health and personality. That is not free either.

We show our cats to ensure that our cats meet the breed standard for the Siberian. On average that is between $500 and $1000 a weekend depending on where the show is and how many days the show is. Add up the costs of travel, hotels, gas, food, entry in the show, show supplies, grooming supplies etc. That doesn't sound exactly free either does it?

And those are just the basic costs in our cattery. We're not even talking about things like emergency vet care, additional cleaning supplies, building cat rooms and outdoor runs many and other costs you have when you run a breeding program. Free? Nope.On top of that, we offer a health guarantee for our kittens. As much as we test our cats, health issues still occur and we have a water tight guarantee in place in case that happens. That is also not free since you may have to give monetary refunds or replace a kitten you otherwise would have sold.

By the time all is said and done, we don't make any money and if we make a few bucks it goes right back into the care of our cats and kittens.

So, you go ahead and get your $500 craigslist kitten from a breeder that has crappy cats from unhealthy lines, doesn't test their cats for health problems, that doesn't show, that gives their cats the cheapest food around and doesn't socialize them properly, that doesn't offer a health guarantee, that doesn't include pedigreed paperwork so you don't even know if you have a purebred cat and that doesn't properly vet their kitten or spays and neuters them prior to them coming home to you.​Don't come knocking on my door when your kitten is sick and the breeder won't respond to your pleas for help and you don't know what to do, ok?

Ever since I announced that once our daughter graduates and moves out, we will be phasing out of breeding, I have received an avalanche of requests from breeders that quickly want a kitten before I quit.

I have never sold a lot of breeder kittens. Not only do I find it risky because of potential health problems, I also don't want my lines all over the place. There are cats in our breed that have been so overbred that it's hard to find a pedigree without those specific lines in them. There are males that have been used just about everywhere and guess what happens when health issues show up? That's right, you can't contain the problem because it's too wide spread and you're not doing the breed any favors with that.

Another reason is that I have a specific standard for breeders I work with. I want my cats and kittens shown, I want them tested for HCM annually and I want regular health screening to be done and receive proof that it is being done. You would not believe how many breeders are not willing to do that.

I only work with people that I know and have known for quite a while and that uphold the same standards as I do. I will not sell or trade breeder cats or kittens with anyone I don't implicitly trust. When I started out I got burned by too many people who got a cat or kitten from me and then did exactly what I asked them not to do and refused to do the right thing when I asked them to. That pretty much shut down my willingness to sell breeder kittens. You get burned hard a few times and your desire to sell breeder kittens goes out the door pretty quickly.

I see it happen everywhere, breeders selling breeder kittens left and right, without regard for health or type or personality, but simply to make money or hoping that they will become famous because their lines are so "well known". They don't mentor the new breeders they sell cats to, they don't even health screen their own cats, they simply want to make money and gain fame at the same time. In my opinion that is about all the wrong reasons you can think of for selling a cat into a breeding program.​So no, you can't quickly get a breeder kitten before I quit, unless I know you and am working with you already.

Here we go again... email after email... "What are you going to have in your next litter?" and "How many will you have to choose from?" and "What colors will your kittens be?" and "What are the odds you will have this or that?" and even "How many boys and girls will you have for me to choose from?"

Do y'all think I have a crystal ball or x-ray vision?

I don't know. I simply do not know until the kittens are born. You're asking me questions I can't answer. And although I can guesstimate about how many kittens a girl will have based on how big she is, and although I can tell you what colors could possibly come out of a certain combination, I know as much as you do until the kittens are actually born.

Yesterday I had someone ask me for a kitten with "defined stripes" It's a longhair, longhairs never have defined stripes because you barely see them. If you want a cat with defined stripes, get a Toyger, that is as defined as it gets. With an almost shaded mother and a spotted father I am not going to get kittens with a defined mackerel pattern. Often when they are super defined when they are babies, they completely fade out as adults.

Then I get a question from someone else "How many girls will you have in your next litter?" Uhm, I don't know, let me go ask the mother cat, maybe she knows what's hopping around in her belly. How do you suggest I find out about this information?

Then I had a lady emailing me saying:" I am hoping for a red boy from Annushka so I am not going to get one of your current litters but wait". So I emailed back and tell her there is no possible way Annushka will have any reds because her litter is with Volokh and he is a brown tabby as is she so all kittens will be brown tabbies. She emails me back that I never know the miracles that God performs and she is going to wait. Hmm, ok, True. I don't know about all the miracles that God performs but I do know genetics and I do know no red kittens will be born. But, if you want to wait for something that's not coming, that is fine.

Then I get people with an entire list of demands of what they want in a kitten. Do you realize that the kitten is only here for 12 weeks and that YOU have to raise it? I don't have ready to go kittens with custom made personalities, colors and patterns. I don't have a stockroom full of kittens where I can just pull whatever you wish for.

And I seriously get the dumbest requests... "Can you make me (I love the "make me" part!) a kitten that won't scratch my furniture?​Yes I can, let me go to Joanne's and get some cute fabric and I will make you one, otherwise go to Toys 'R Us, Isle 13 bin 25, you may find one there too.​

Yesterday I received a question from one of my kitten buyers if I had pictures of their kittens. With all the kittens we currently have I thought it would be a good idea to explain my picture policy in public. This is not part of the soapbox diaries, but simply an explanation of why I do what I do.

When you buy a kitten from us, I send pictures every 2 weeks to the new families. I always do this on weekends and that has a specific reason; my husband is home and I need his help with taking pictures.

Unless you are a cat person, and you take pictures of baby kittens on a regular basis, you have no idea what kind of herculean task this is.

Newborns don't sit still, and not only do they not sit still, they actively turn their faces away from the light and scoot into the opposite direction of where you want them. So when they are newborns, my husband holds them and if we're lucky their heads will hold still enough for a split second to take a few pictures.

When they are about 3-4 weeks they hit the "running" phase. This means they are too big to be held, but the second you put them down they come running towards you because their attention span does not allow them to focus on a toy yet. This makes it almost impossible to take good pictures, so usually I revert to movies and tell people that what they see, is the reason I can't take good pictures of their kittens.

When they are about 6 weeks, things get easier and that's when you start to see the really good and cute pictures, because they can focus on a toy long enough to sit still for good pictures.

To you it may seem I snap these pictures real quick with my phone, while in reality my husband and I spend hours wrangling these kittens so I can send you what you want to see.

When the pictures are done, the other big task starts, which is editing. That usually takes even more time than taking the pictures itself. I have to crop, resize and often lighten up pictures so you get high quality photos of your little one, and then I have to email them out to everyone telling them how their kitten is doing and post on social media and update the website.

This picture taking process takes an entire day, especially if we have quite a few kittens. Because it takes an entire day and my husband and I both work during the week, we provide pictures once every 2 weeks. ​

Joey’s passing triggered a much needed discussion within our family that has been a “quiet subject” for a while now.

There are many, many reasons why someone becomes a breeder. It is not a decision to be taken lightly and it is not easy to start a good breeding program and become a ethical and responsible breeder. At the same token, quitting everything you have worked so hard for is equally as hard and is also a decision that cannot be taken lightly. Many factors come into play when a breeder decides to end their breeding program.

Our family has decided to slowly start phasing out of breeding, with as our goal to end our breeding program after our daughter graduates Winter 2018.

Many factors played a role in this decision...

The siberian breed is magnificent, however it is a breed that deals with quite a few health problems, HCM being one of them. For years we have seen cats drop dead left and right, and breeders with risky lines breeding their cats into just about every pedigree out there with all the disastrous consequences that comes with that. I had a spiel about it a few posts ago, but if you didn’t read it, you can read it here on my bloghttp://www.siberiancat.com/blog/hcm-lets-be-honest-shall-we

Lots of great breeders deeply care about the breed, but the majority does not. They simply want to make money. They don’t screen, they don’t test and they are dishonest when it comes to the health of their cats. They simply do not care enough to do the right thing and is has enormous consequences for the breed. We have a completely inactive breed committee that could do so much good for the breed but has proven to be quite useless in the past years. That is not an attack on the people on the committee, but simply a fact.

In my humble opinion, the siberian breed as a whole is in bad shape and it’s not going to get any better unless people are willing to tell the truth about their cats and start rigorously screening and testing. It’s not going to happen, so seeing this breed moving backwards instead of forward is one big reason to jump ship.

Another huge consideration is simply the fact that being a breeder is an insane amount of work. It’s a full time job, you can never go on vacation unless you can find someone so crazy to take care of all of your cats, and it is very restrictive in life. A spontaneous weekend out of town has not happened here in 10 years. We’re both worn out and are looking forward to other things in our life.

Winter 2018 our daughter will be graduating from college. When she moves out and goes her own way, we plan on doing the same. That will be the time when we are going to start phasing out, have our last litters and find home for most of our cats. We plan on moving and pretty much start a new chapter in our lives. We plan on fixing up and selling our house and downsize significantly because we don’t need a 3500 square foot house for just the two of us.

Joey’s passing was really the trigger to make some decisions we have been talking about for almost 2 years now. We both agree this is what we want, we’re both sure this is what we are going to do.

In about 2 years we hope to have completely phased out from breeding. We may still have a cat or two as pets, or even maybe a show alter but other than that, it will be the end of our breeding program. We may move closer to my husband’s work, and I will be working from home building and growing my natural health solutions business (www.facebook.com/OilPixie).

It is hard to decide to let go of something we spent years building up, but we all get to a point in our lives when it’s time to move on to the next thing, and once our daughter graduates and lives on her own, it’s time for us to move forward to other things.

This means that some of our current breeding cats will soon be available to new homes and some of them have already found their new forever homes and will be going there very soon.

The end of the road is coming in the near future, but is not here yet. Don’t worry, about 2 more years of adorable kittens and cats with cute pictures to come!

This is a request I get at least 2-3 times a week. People want a kitten with blue eyes and when I tell them I don't have those they reply with "but your kittens have blue eyes!"

Yes they do -- ALL kittens are born with blue eyes but with age, that changes to a different color unless the cat is pointed (like a siamese/ragdoll/himalayan) Only color point siberians (or Neva Masquerades as they call them) have blue eyes as adults. Colors such as brown, silver, red, black or torbie do not have blue eyes.

I only breed traditional colors, meaning I don't breed color points. There is no reason for that other that I simply don't like the color, just as I don't like blue or creme or any other diluted color.​So yes, my kittens have blue eyes but they won't stay blue. If you want a cat with blue eyes, you need to find a breeder that breeds color point siberians.​